Ann Marie Smihal, 43 of Grosse Pointe shows off a piece of the track that went up in the air and into the area where she, her family and others were in a chalet between turn 10 and 11 near the Belle Isle casino during the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix in Detroit on Sunday, June 3, 2012. / Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press

But the world’s elite race-car drivers quickly learned what Michiganders have known their whole lives: Potholes are a pain in the butt, not to mention the tires and the undercarriages of expensive racing machines.

A chunk of the track launched over the chain link fence and smacked Ann-Marie Smihal of Grosse Pointe in the thigh. She wasn’t hurt.

“It was just shocking, and I’m just glad it didn’t hit my children,” she said.

The Smihals -- Ann-Marie, her husband, Tony, and their two children Bennett and Audrey — were guests in a private chalet, very close to the track between turns 10 and 11.

“My husband had tipped us off to the possibility,” she said. “He’s very observant and saw the asphalt start tearing up.”

Race organizers said the material used on the track has a lifespan, and “since we haven’t run here for so long, it just kind of lost its grip and started coming undone,” said IndyCar race director Beaux Barfield.

The last time the race was run on Belle Isle was 2008. It was cancelled because of the bad economy, especially for the auto industry, major sponsors of the race.
The Smihals still planned to stay till the end. A delay of about two hours allowed crews to make repairs to the track. The race, shortened to 60 laps instead of 90 laps, started again just before 7 p.m. — but light rain quickly caused more problems for drivers before the race ended at about 7:20 p.m. Driver Scott Dixon won.

Before that, hundreds of fans streamed off Belle Isle when the race was halted.
Art Pepp, 58, of Clinton Township was disappointed with the shortened race day.
“They should have taken better care of the track. Half a race just doesn’t do it for me,” he said.

His friend Rick Gore, 58, of Highland Township said he was impressed with Belle Isle but disappointed with the race. “Everything was first-class here. It’s just too bad the pavement was torn up.”

Marty Mullen, 63, and his wife Diane Mullen, 64, came from Cleveland on Saturday night.

“Sure, I’m disappointed,” said Marty Mullen. “But it’s something you can’t control. Safety is more important.” Still, he and his wife agreed they would come back again.

Before the potholes, fans were excited about the day of racing.

Ingrid and Alec Peeples shared a picnic along a Belle Isle stream and compared their racing adventures with the more sophisticated machinery on the nearby track.

“I race $500 endurance cars,” said Alec Peeples, 34, of Sterling Heights. “We race the cheapest cars you can find, and there’s enough rust on them that you know you’re driving a $500 car.”

In his case, it’s a 1995 Chevy Cavalier he bought for $400 and painted the same yellow that was used by last year’s Indy 500 pace car — the Chevrolet Corvette.

Cindy Grines and Maureen Giammara of West Bloomfield began the day by posing for pictures atop the winner’s circle podium.

“We’re here for more of the social atmosphere,” Giammara said, noting that they took a page from the Kentucky Derby and brought fancy hats to mark the occasion.

“You wear hats to horse races, so we decided to wear hats here,” said Grines.

In the end, fans who stayed for the last lap were happy they did.

Domenic Mazzenga, 75, of Shelby Township stayed around until the end to watch the presentation of the winner’s trophy.

“I’ve been a big race-car fan for most of my life,” he said. “I wasn’t happy about the race being delayed, but that’s just part of the sport.”

Jordan Buscemi, 22, of Metamora and a Wayne State University student, also decided to stay.

“When we saw that they were just going to have 15 more laps,” he said, “I wanted to stick around to see the exciting finish.”